<b>Local History</b>Bay View Park<b>From: </b>Bill Day<b>
Subject: </b><b>Bay View Park</b><b>
To: </b>MSRNA members at large<b>
</b>
I first encountered Bay View Park, and its lodge or hotel, as a subject of Wilfred Allan’s postcards and as one of Loren Ellis Baker’s many projects to stimulate the nascent tourist industry in southwestern Nova Scotia. The following essay [1], which I have illustrated with postcards from Wilfred Allan’s collection, describes Bay View Park’s development and decline.
<b>A brief history of the Bay View Hotel
</b>by Donna-Lynn McNulty
“On the western perimeter of Yarmouth Harbour is an imposing jut of land characterized by the incongruent mingling of rocky shore and forested inclines. The resultant beauty of the peninsula composed a most appropriate setting for the Bay View Lodge – a very popular summer resort operated at Overton in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. The lodge was situated on the harbour’s shoreline and was enveloped in the native evergreens and flowery undergrowth. This inherent landscape provided the scene for the lovely reserve accompanying the lodge known as the Bay View Park.
“The entire facility was opened on May 25, 1896, which was a Monday, as the Queen’s birthday, a holiday, fell on Sunday that year. The lodge’s first guests were reputedly blessed by the fine weather which marked the gregarious career of the establishment. To local, as well as touring, visitors the site must have appeared as the Yarmouth Herald once described it:
<i>The terraces and walks are picturesquely arranged, the restaurant and cottages are handsome and commodious and command a magnificent view of the town, harbour and bay.
</i>It was to become the centre of social activity throughout the county.
“Located directly across from Yarmouth town the lodge was accessible by the three popular modes of transportation during that day: ferry, horse, and foot. The lodge supported its own steamer, the <i>Juno</i>, which operated regular runs during the open season between Baker’s wharf of the Yarmouth side [at the foot of Forest Street] and the lodge’s own long wharf extending beyond the low water tide mark. The Bay View pier was of such construction as to accommodate yachts, boats and canoes, as well.
“More adventurous guests had the option of trekking to the lodge by land. Roads traversed around the northern end of the harbour, over Mill Hill and down through Overton. Many chose to hike while the more prosperous citizens could rely on the horse and buggy. Regardless of the transportational circum-stances, a day’s outing across or around the harbour to the Bay View Lodge was, as one writer of the time identified, ‘quite a treat for the average family.’
“The park, in itself, was a great attraction. The natural beauty, as well as the encompassing view of the harbour, lured a substantial patronage from the local populace just as it did from foreign visitors. Landscaped by a Yarmouthian contractor, Mr. Baker, the park was commended highly by local and provincial media for its role in consolidating public spirit and its value as a community asset. The community did indeed utilize the park’s facilities to the fullest, making it the popular spot for several years after its opening for celebrations, outings, picnics and get-togethers. Its reputation for get-togethers may well have been more than it appeared at first glance as certainly its infamous ‘Lover’s Lane’ was a favourite haunt for many a young couple. An advertisement for the park asserted:
<i>Bay View Park affords a delightful place for the summer outing, easy of access, and most pleasant for its situation. It should be generally patronized.
</i>
. . .
“Unfortunately, early in the twentieth century disaster plagued the Bay View Lodge as it was destroyed by fire. Its success, however, prompted its owners to quickly replace it with a larger edifice, the Bay View Hotel. The new building epitomized many of the technological advances permeating the period, boasting the modern conventions of electricity and indoor plumbing. The hotel and park continued [their] success but not to the previous extent. The increasing ease of mobility enticed local people further from home.
“In 1912 the hotel once again succumbed to ill fate, suffering the total loss of its main building to fire on the evening of September 20. The fire, which was believed to have originated under the front porch, was discovered around midnight by the bookkeeper who had been unable to sleep with a toothache. Quickly she alerted the others, 16 occupants: eight guests and eight staff (including Mr. Drew, the proprietor). Nothing of the hotel itself was saved but other guests escaped damages as they were housed in the adjacent cottage to the south. The Yarmouth Telegraph sympathizing deeply with the loss emitted the impassioned plea:
<i>It is sincerely hoped that [Mr. Drew] will see his way clear to rebuild without delay and still make Bay View what he intended it to be, one of the most attractive resorts in Nova Scotia.
</i>The hotel, however, was never rebuilt as the motor car was now coming in and roads were being improved and people were no longer satisfied to enjoy themselves in surroundings so near to home.
“When the hotel burned some of the outer buildings were left intact. The larger of these was the barn which had been suited for storage and stables. The demise of the vacation spot did not dampen the spirits of a local entrepreneur who converted the structure into the “Bay View Dancing Emporium” where young people went for dances and socials. This enterprise enjoyed a lively patronage for some time but eventually faded. The barn was deserted and the grounds of the once thriving Bay View fell into decay.
“Today the Brannen family home, floated to its foundations from Portland, Maine, by (Merit) Bean in 1975, adorns the site. The hotel’s foundations are still
visible to the curious and the land has retained its natural beauty. Undoubtedly the view of the town has evolved to reflect the present decade but is no less delightful for its change. The Bay View is still that – a breathtaking sweep of Nova Scotia’s southern tip.” [1]
<b>References and Notes
</b> [1] Donna-Lynn McNulty, “A brief history of the Bay View Hotel,” Yarmouth (N.S.) Vanguard<i>,</i> Tuesday, 13 September 1994, page 5B. This article was in the series “Museum Notes: Prepared by members of the Yarmouth County Museum and Historical Research Library.”
[2] I thank Wilfred Allen for permitting me to display digital images of his postcards of Bay View Park. An accompanying album includes other images of the Lodge and the Park.
[3] I thank Jamie Serran, Archivist at the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives, 22 Collins Street, Yarmouth, NS, for providing access to a photograph of the steamer <i>Juno</i>, my photograph of which is shown above.
[4] The photograph of Wyman Head I took in September 2011 from the observation deck at the Nova Scotia Tourist Information Centre. The Brannen family home is to the right; the Bay View Hotel was situated in the trees to its left.<b>Sunday, January 15, 2012</b>